Pensioner sentenced for historic sex offences

Stephen Wynn-Davies

A Littlehampton man is starting a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted of sex offences against two young boys.

Robin Hall, 76, retired, of St Marys Close, Littlehampton, was sentenced at Chichester Crown Court on Monday (October 3) having been found guilty, after a six-day trial.

A police statement said: “He was convicted of three indecent assaults on a boy, then aged between 13 and 15, between 1978 and 1980; and of four indecent assaults on a boy, then aged between 11 and 14, between 1999 and 2001.

“He was found not guilty of a fifth charge of indecent assault on the second boy, and was also found not guilty of a charge of indecent assault on another teenage boy in 1994 in Partridge Green.

“Hall was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to last until further court order, severely restricting his access to children, and will be a registered sex offender for life.

“The current police investigation began in 2013 when the victim of the offences between 1999 and 2001 came to us.”

Detective Constable Angela De Vivo of the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit said; “This was a complex investigation in which we had to put together evidence about offences spanning a quarter of a century.

“Hall is clearly a man with a particular sexual interest in boys on the edge of adolescence, and he has committed many acts of sexual abuse against these victims over this period.

“We are glad to have been able to finally bring him to justice and we recognize the courage of the two victims who after all this time were ready to give evidence and face cross-examination.

“I hope that this outcome will help to give them some sense of closure about these distressing experiences.”

After the sentencing, a spokesperson for the NSPCC said: “Hall subjected both victims to repeated and torrid indecent assaults over two decades.

“Hall was part of a complex investigation and both survivors have shown incredible bravery and patience in waiting for justice.

“Hopefully today gives them the chance to move on and get the support they need to recover from their ordeal.